An actuator for driving a rotating mechanism, such as a joint unit of a robot apparatus or an electric power steering apparatus for an automobile, is made up of parts such as a motor, a reduction gear, a shaft, and a torque sensor. With regard to actuators, technology that controls the driving of the motor so as not to break these component parts is being developed.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology for an electric power steering apparatus of an automobile that measures a count of the number of times a steering wheel reaches a maximum steering angle and a rack hits a stopper (end-hit count), and in a case in which the end-hit count reaches a certain count, a limit is set on a current command value for driving the motor.
As another example, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technology for a servo motor used in an actuator that limits the current flowing to the servo motor in accordance with the temperature of a coil in the servo motor.